


Five Times Tony And Bucky Had To Talk About Their Relationship With Others (And One Time They Finally Talked To Each Other) [11/52]

by andrea_deer



Series: 52 aspec drabbles/ficlets of 2017 [11]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: 5+1 Things, Asexual Character, Asexual Relationship, M/M, and their friends are a bit confused by this relationship, aspec drabbles, but with some angst, im ignoring most of the movies past Winter Soldier, not as serious as it might sound, they both have issues, trauma caused asexuality, yet somehow it works
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-18
Updated: 2017-06-18
Packaged: 2018-11-15 19:00:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11237220
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/andrea_deer/pseuds/andrea_deer
Summary: "Well, this is more than a one night kind of a date. Actual hopes for regular recurrence of said dates for a meaningful amount of time, kind of dating going on, so...""Oh," she seems surprised. "You think it's something that could work out long term?"And now she's making notes and thinking how it affects the company and Tony and their reputation and he knows this because that's how it works with smart, organized Pepper, but he also hears the surprise. Like she didn't expect him to try such a thing ever again. Like it wasn't for him. Like it could never work out with someone like him.But perhaps he's projecting.11/52 aspec drabbles!





	Five Times Tony And Bucky Had To Talk About Their Relationship With Others (And One Time They Finally Talked To Each Other) [11/52]

**Steve**

"You don't seem convinced," Bucky says somewhat amused by Steve's constipated face.

It's this face that he's wearing now when he's trying to be all proper and appropriate role model, but he really wants to say some shit he shouldn't. He wears it a lot. Especially during peaceful times, where being Captain America is again more about being a symbol, an icon, someone to look up to, than about the actual fighting.

In a fight, he is still a good old Steve.

In the moments of peace, he's trying to be more diplomatic. Bucky saw this awkward face staring at him from various interviews he saw Steve in, from some awkwardly taken photos that the press likes to spread around. He even got used to it being aimed at him. During his recovery, Steve wore it a lot, doing his best to not hurt Bucky's feelings, not to set him off, not in any way appear unsportive. It got old fast and Bucky really didn't care for this reappearance.

"I'm just not sure how it will work out," Steve says carefully and Bucky really wants to smack him, disregarding entirely his good intentions.

"Well, lucky then it's me dating him and not you."

Steve rolls his eyes.

"You know what I mean. I just think perhaps dating someone more... steady... more reliable... would be better for you right now, you know?"

"Or," Bucky says slowly, his tone casual but cold, and now Steve is certainly not the only one holding back, "it'd be good for me to go out with who I want to and not who I'm told to."

Steve seems taken aback and immediately tries to take his words back.

"Of course, it's not what I-" He sighs. "Sorry, Bucky. Of course, it's your choice. I just worry about you, man."

Bucky throws him a look.

"How the tables have turned," he says philosophically and Steve shows him the finger for his effort and finally leaves him in peace so he can get ready for his date.

-  
**Pepper**

"You're dating again," Pepper repeats slowly.

"Yes," Tony agrees cheerfully, still walking around the garage and picking up mostly random objects that he hoped looked useful enough. He doesn't think he could have had this conversation sitting down or even standing still. 

He throws a clench between his hands, full of nervous pent-up energy. 

"I'm not sure it's one of those things that it's a dick thing to mention or one that should be mentioned, but since it's me I figured you will learn soon enough. Either from me or some trashy newspaper calling you for an opinion on that, so...."

He spread his arms as to say 'here we are' and gives Pepper an apologetic smile. He's really not sure if it isn't a dick thing to say to your ex that you're dating again, but it seemed awfully weird to keep it from Pepper.

"Well, I- I certainly appreciate the warning on that one," she admits and Tony nods to himself, deciding he did okay after all. "I guess I'm just surprised because, well, I thought you've already dated someone. Or several someones, really. Perhaps even during one night."

She teases and it's an old kind of teasing Tony threw back and forth all his life, but it's odd coming from Pepper after all they've been through. It's hitting a bit too close to home now when things have changed and it seems Peper either never noticed or doesn't believe it. Both being equally awkward options. 

He hadn't in fact dated anyone since he and Pepper broke up. Not even in the sense Pepper means. But if Pepper didn't realize... Well, perhaps it's not the time to mention it right now, it could derail the conversation and really Tony only gathered enough adult points for one serious conversation until like the end of the week at least.

"Well, this is more than a one night kind of a date. Actual hopes for regular recurrence of said dates for a meaningful amount of time, kind of dating going on, so..."

"Oh," she seems surprised. "You think it's something that could work out long term?"

And now she's making notes and thinking how it affects the company and Tony and their reputation and he knows this because that's how it works with smart, organized Pepper, but he also hears the surprise. Like she didn't expect him to try such a thing ever again. Like it wasn't for him. Like it could never work out with someone like him.

But perhaps he's projecting.

-  
**Sam**

"What it is with you and Rogers training in the godawful mornings? No one wants to fight before dawn, Barnes. Not even when they get to kick your ugly ass."

Bucky jumps a bit in the ring, warming up as Sam slowly makes his way towards him, grumping all the way through.

"Quit your bitching, Wilson. I'm taking Tony for dinner later, I need the evening free. Kicking your ass is not worth missing a date, fun as it is."

Sam flips him off, but since he already put the gloves on it hardly has any effect.

"Wait," he pauses for a second while stretching his arms, "you and Stark are still a thing?"

Bucky sighs mildly because this is going really old really fast.

"Yes," he answers trying to focus on his warm up and not his sparring partner.

"Huh," is Sam's only reply as he moves to one of the corners, checking his gloves one last time. 

Bucky keeps glancing at him, waiting for more, but nothing comes.

"That's it?"

"That's what?" Sam asks sounding honestly surprised.

"No 'how come he's not cheated on you yet?' or 'how on earth you haven't driven each other mad yet?' or, always popular 'it's not like either one of you is known for long term relationships, you know?'"

Sam looks at him and smirks slightly at Bucky's frustration, but just shrugs in the end.

"Hey, for whatever freakish reason it seems to be working for now. Far from me to tempt you to stick with it for longer just to prove me wrong. That's Steve's job."

Bucky 'accidentally' kicks him in the shin before they even start the fight.

-  
**Rhodey**

"So, things with James are going alright?" asks Rhodey in his fake casual voice and Tony actually looks at him and away from the car engine he is working on.

"Yeees," he says slowly. "Is this what we're doing now? Having casual chit-chats about each other's love lives? Because I'm so not prepared and left all of my notes on your lack of romance in a different room."

"Ha. ha." deadpans Rhodey. "You're hilarious, really."

"Thank you, one of my many good traits."

"Sure," agrees Rhodey dryly, but he doesn't get too distracted. He takes a swallow of his beer and looks carefully at Tony. "I'm just asking, 'cause you know, we've talked about some things after you and Pepper split and well, it's Bucky Barnes, back in a day he was possibly even more of a playboy than you."

"Is there a point in your awkward speech or you're just getting excited that I'm dating the man you wrote a dissertation about? Again?"

"I was drunk! Stop calling me up on that one!"

Tony frowns in exaggerated confusion, standing up to find a tool he needs.

"The whole time you were writing it or just when you picked the subject?"

Rhodey scowls at him, highly unimpressed.

"I'm serious, Tony. I just want to know if you're alright. You don't pick easy dates, do you?"

"Easy dates pick themselves," Tony quips back, but seeing his friend's serious gaze relents in hopes to end the conversation as quickly as possible. "I'm fine, Rhodey. He's fine as well, damn fine if I may say so myself. We're good."

Rhodey nods but doesn't seem convinced. Tony sighs, going back to working on the engine and carefully picking it apart while he changes the subject well and far away from him and Bucky.

"So, about that lack of love life of yours..."

"Oh, piss off!"

-  
**Natasha**

Theoretically speaking Bucky knew exactly what he was getting into in terms of dating a playboy. Well, to be fair, the experience he had was from being the playboy in the relationship, but he had some idea of potential obstacles and more important gains. He was quite a catch back in the days and happily shared among a bigger crowd too.

The problem was "back in the days" bit, because just like polio, reasonable prices and short-ass Steve Rogers, it seemed to be a thing of the past.

Not his popularity among the people who would welcome him to his bed, but rather his apetite for it.

That's the problem with coming back to being yourself after years and years of pain and torture and brainwashing. You might get your mind back, but it's not the same mind you've had before everything happened. Even if you lived your life peacefully you'd hardly be the same person after so many years, but somehow that's what you expect from yourself. At first at least. To wake up and be the Bucky Barnes you were before the World War II.

Bucky was lucky enough to get his mind back. To have the control back. But he was not going to just be who he was and slowly he was learning to accept it.

Some things were to be overcome, some things were just different. He wasn't sure yet which one was the sudden lack of judging people by 'would do', 'maybe would do' and 'not to be done' statuses, but he figured starting a relationship with a playboy with an international reputation of being utterly slutty was throwing himself head into the problem one way or another.

Except, it apparently wasn't. 

They kissed, they talked, they joked and their innuendo reached new levels, especially if Steve was around and they could try to make him blush. But there still was no sex. Their making-out sessions were always interrupted and one time they actually landed in the same bed, Tony was crashing from a caffeine high after barely sleeping for three days and he was basically a dead weight. Warm and nice to snuggle to, but useless in terms of challenging Bucky's switch in the attitude towards sex.

They were actually making out in the fairly open space of the Stark Tower's kitchen, somehow lingering after the others finished their breakfast, and things were getting heated enough that if Bucky was fully his pre-war self this would end in one way only. Since he wasn't and Tony was not exactly the type he generally dated, it all ended rather anticlimactically when Jarvis called Tony down to the labs to stabilize one of the experiments.

Tony lingers just for a moment, kissing Bucky chastely in an apology.

"Sorry, handsome. You know how it is, no one can live without me."

Bucky smirks. 

"I think I'll manage," he replies and lets Tony go to avert the crisis.

He leaves in a hurry, winking at Bucky before disappearing from view just as Natasha entered the kitchen, going straight for the coffeemaker. The machine came to life with loud buzzing noises as it started slowly pouring the coffee into Natasha's huge cup. 

Natasha sighs looking at Bucky and his messed up hair.

"Interrupted again?" she asks casually.

"We seem to have a bit of bad luck," he replies cautiously, unsure why she's bringing that up and if she's in fact actually aware how often they get interrupted.

"Huh. And always by his own alarms and experiments, you would think he could be better at timing around those, hm?"

She turns to her coffee, clearly hoping that watching it carefully will make the mug fill faster. Bucky simply blinks owlishly at her back suddenly realizing he's been a bit blind about the issue.

He leaves Natasha to her vices and makes his way towards the lab Tony supposedly run off too. 

"Jarvis you tell on me now and we're going to have a problem," he mutters darkly in the elevator, looking straight at where he knew the security camera was hidden.

Jarvis, wisely, stays silent and as Bucky makes his way towards the lab, he can see Tony through the glass wall. He's rolling around on his chair next to the computer, looking for all the world like he's dead bored and barely focused on some basic maintenance. 

"Emergency my ass," Bucky mutters, turning around and making his way back to the elevator.

Somehow even as he's riding in the elevator alone the silence in it feels awkward. He suspects it's a side effect of Jarvis trying to think up an excuse for his creator. 

Bucky leaves him to it, deciding to catch up with his own thoughts on a walk outside of the tower.

-  
**Tony and Bucky**

Moving around in the dark is painfully easy for Bucky and the faint light of Tony's chest reactor only made it easier. He easily noticed when Tony realized he is not alone in the room and stiffened, though still pretended to be deep asleep.

"Don't blow me up, it will wake the others," Bucky says calmly right before he sneaks into Tony's bed, laying next to him, not even touching, not looking at him. He focuses his gaze on the dark ceiling instead, even though Tony, laying on his side, has the perfect angle to observe him. 

"Oooh, a midnight guest, isn't that flattering," Tony says after a moment, bringing back the flirty smile and innuendo he was known for.

"Do you want to have sex?" Bucky asks bluntly.

Tony seems a bit put out by Bucky's direct approach.

"Well," he says after a short moment with the fake, sleazy smile. "I never say no."

Bucky snorts. If this is the way Tony usually flirts no wonder no one saw their relationship surviving more than a night. The blatant fakeness of it was getting overwhelming really fast and it was so thickly layered Bucky had no idea how anyone fell for it. 

"You just set Jarvis on interrupting whenever there's any risk of sex happening?" he asks with a smirk.

Tony stays silent for a long moment, obviously working up his tactic on how to defuse the situation.

"I'm certain we would have a great time, James."

James. Wow. Things are actually getting serious. Bucky buckles up for having a serious conversation and congratulates himself on the foresight of having it in the dark, where everything is always easier to admit to.

"Buuuut...." he prompts.

"But people in relationships tend to require it on regular basis and that's not something that holds my interest all that much," Tony admits finally, his fake tone long gone. "I can have it! It's not the worst chore, I admit and it does come with orgasms which are always a nice bonus..."

Bucky chuckles quietly.

"But you don't really want to."

Tony's quiet "no" almost get lost in the rustle of sheets as Tony turns to lay on his back next to Bucky, not even looking at him now.

They lay side by side in silence for a long moment, both of them lost in their own thoughts while trying to read those of the other.

"I found...." Bucky finally starts. "Lots of things are different since I came back. I found... I don't really enjoy the idea of sex anymore and I was kind of bracing myself for when you're gonna ask about it."

Tony turns towards him, clearly surprised and stares at Bucky, trying to figure him out.

"Huh. So we were basically avoiding each other's imaginary coming ons? Without clarifying what's bothering us? That's... mature. Your therapist will be proud."

Bucky kicks him lightly.

" _Your_ therapist will be proud."

"That's what I pay her for."

Bucky grins happily at the impossible idiot next to him. 

"Your bed is comfy, can I stay?" he asks as he's already making himself comfortable, turning on his side and wrapping himself deeper into the blankets.

Tony makes a show of considering it deeply even as his arm settles around Bucky, his chest close to Bucky's back.

"You make a passable pillow from this side, I guess you can stick around," he finally offers, snuggling closer.

Bucky lays still enjoying Tony's warmth and smell, enveloping him.

"I could get used to this," he murmurs contently after awhile.

Tony just hums back, half-asleep already.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on [tumblr](http://lordnochybaty.tumblr.com/) or come to my [ace tumblr](https://acesthetically-pleasing.tumblr.com/) for more aspec goodies :)


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